having an argument with girlfriend over the fact that my 9 year old son cant use a kettle ....she says that i am being too over protective in not allowing him to use a kettle to boil water....she has a teenage girl from a previous relationship and says she was cooking things at 7 ???...i dont agree that a 9 year old should be near boiling water and i think that most people would agree with me....she doesnt agree....
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so i would like to know what you think about this....am i too protective or not ?????....thanks

not unsupervised. you dont want them burning down the house or apartment building.

It totally depends on the kid. Some kids are more forward than others. If your kid is a responsible 9 year old, there should be nothing wrong with letting him use the kettle.

But then again, I am not a parent.

I wouldn't let mine, but that totally doesn't mean 9 yo shouldn't

All in all, I would never forgive myself if something happened with that kettle and leave my kid scarred for life.

I wouldn't let mine but I can't think of any reason why my nine year old would need to boil water...

I made eggs, supervised, in a skillet when I was seven. I had to stand on a step to reach the cooker, but what the heck.

I was good at it too.

With adult supervision - Yes !

My kids have been learning to cook since they were 4 or 5. My 11 year old made some kickass baked mac and cheese from scratch a couple of weeks ago. They cook me breakfast in bed on Mother's Day and my birthday.



The scrambled eggs always have enough salt to melt a giant slug, but I choke them down because that's what love is about.

So what I'm trying to say here is, if you let your 9 year old use the kettle, at least he won't make you salty fucking tea.

I was making macaroni & cheese by myself at the age of 8. I think girls tend to be more mature at that age than boys are though.

It depends on the child and his level of cognizance. I would say at that age they should be supervised in their kitchen activities, but it wasn't unusual for me to have used a kettle when I was 9 after asking my parents permission, and I think i frst started washing dishes at 8. I used to prepare tea or hot cocoa for myself and my family members, quite onften on cold days after my dad shoveled or we kids played in the snow. Some of my earliest memories as a child were being showed how things work in a kitchen, and what was appropriate for me to touch or not touch. It shaped me enough that by the time I was 9, I was ready to handle the kettle with full understanding of it's functions (and dangers). Now that I live in Europe, I've seen that in this day and age there are cooking shows geared to children (with adult supervision), that teach them basic kitchen techinical and safety skills. For example, they'll learn how to make a simple pasta with marinara sauce from a jar to serve their little friends: in the course of the lesson they learn how to properly boil and handle the water, use kitchen shears and (reasonable) knife with mom/dad's supervision, and then there's a safety segment about kitchen emrgencies and ect. I think shows like this are a useful way to encourage developement of motor and reasoning skills in children and I support the idea 100%. But it is important for mom/dad to be there to supervise

Again.. It depends on the child.. My son is 9 and he loves to cook spaghetti.. he pours the water off too..
I guided him trough the whole process.. told him over and over again what the dangers are .. to use the cotton laps (sp?) and now he can do it on his own..

You're overprotective. A 9 year old? Are you serious? Unless the kid is developmentally or intellectually challenged, he should've learned basics like boiling water ages ago.

meow85 said:

I agree
if he's old enough to smoke he should at least be able to have a brew along with his fag.

meow85 said:

I agree my own daughter started cooking just Romane(sp) Noodles ( some call them chinese noodles in the package) at age 9. She helps me with supper and lunches now. All kids can help out in the kitchen at that age( if you teach them right) but be sure not to nag too much, remember they are just learning. They will need this life skill in the future if they plan to move out and/or have families of their own.

meow85 said:

I agree. As long as the child is strong enough to lift the kettle and pour without fumbling it (and a 9-year-old should be), it's fine. Kids should learn about kitchen safety much earlier than that, IMO.

toots said:

Cooking and kitchen work is a life skill that boys and girls should begin learning as soon as possible. Obviously you wouldn't expect a 5 year old to be whipping up gourmet meals, but little things like drying dishes or helping set the table aren't unreasonable.

I started out learning how to help in the kitchen pretty much as soon as I could stand. By the time I was 9 I was expected to cook dinner by myself once in a while.

Genesia said:

My 10 year old makes me a cup of tea all the time ...hes been doing that for a while...guess it depends on the child

meow85 said:

That is why I said "they" not he/she. I was referring to my daughter when exlaining only.

Lucy makes a delicious steak with bourbon mushroom sauce.

as many have said it depends on the child but....I think 9 is old enough to learn and def old enough to understand the dangers.

HamsterHuey said:

I agree. Alot of 9 year olds can be trusted but some cant. He cant be "protected" forever though.

Big no.

dreamfactory313 said:

I agree the "cord" needs to be cut sometime.

No, I don't think so.

I'm all for independence in kids but I think it is totally ok to not let them do some things. It's ok to just let them just be kids with not having to learn all their life skills really early. Personally, I get creeped out by parents that make their little kids do everything all in the name of independence.

This kind of thing would be in my 'not ok to do for now' list at 9 years old.

i scalded my foot when i was eight with a boiling kettle. it just fell from my hand all over my foot.

i wouldn't let my kids do it until they were older.

but again it depends on the kids.